Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 310 Li Er: He is a talented person, that guy is lucky
This time the enemy's attack was no longer aimed at logistics, but at the Ming army itself.

Moreover, the scale of this wave of attack was also huge, not just the small-scale attacks of the previous small-scale forces.
However, in actual combat, this strange Tang army still did not change its previous despicable tactics.

They bit here, touched there, and wandered around the entire Tang army's defense line like extremely annoying mosquitoes.

"What do they want to do? What exactly do they intend to achieve?"

Xue Rengui stood on the towering city wall, directing his troops to defend while thinking in his mind.

They're dealing with logistics, then they're dealing with his mentality, and now they're directly dealing with him personally.

But every time it was just a fleeting glimpse, and there was no other friendly forces to cooperate and support...

"General, the enemy offensive on the Western Front has been repelled."

The deputy general immediately brought the good news.

Huh... Xue Rengui breathed a sigh of relief.

It seems that these Tang troops have not learned from their previous lessons.

The combat effectiveness is still the same as before, and there is no improvement.

However, his troops' combat effectiveness was greatly reduced due to lack of logistics, and they failed to seize the opportunity to inflict as much casualties on the enemy's manpower as possible.

"General Xue, a cavalry unit of the enemy has broken through the eastern defense." The messenger came immediately.

Xue Rengui frowned:
"That swarm of mosquitoes is endless... Is the situation critical?"

"It's not dangerous. Just a small group of cavalry broke in. I believe we can drive them out soon." The messenger reported truthfully.

Xue Rengui's frown relaxed slightly:
"Don't take it lightly. Now that the pressure on the Western Front has eased, send the troops there to reinforce and fill the gaps in the Eastern Front's defenses..."

Just as he was giving the order, he caught a glimpse of billowing smoke and dust out of the corner of his eye.

Xue Rengui unconsciously glanced in that direction, and his heart skipped a beat.

The terrain of the Central Plains is very flat, and there is only one high place around, which is the city tower, so the view is very good.

As far as the eye could see, all the Tang troops in all directions on the battlefield were rushing towards his eastern wing like a swarm of bees.

"What are they doing..."

The deputy general was puzzled by this wave of unusual movements.

Xue Rengui's face became paler and paler:
"Is their goal... the gap on the Eastern Front?"

Unfortunately, what he said came true.

This group of Tang troops were like sharks in the sea. After smelling a small gap in the defense line, they madly focused on attacking that point, tearing the gap bigger and bigger bit by bit.

First the cavalry took the lead, and then the infantry expanded the victory, advancing layer by layer, like a wedge, and drove deep into the Ming army.

Before Xue Rengui had time to command other Ming troops to fill the gap in the defense, the Tang army had already opened a huge hole in their defense line.

After the opening, the Tang army still did not relax its offensive, but became more fierce. They completely gave up attacking and defending in other directions and plunged into the gap, going deeper and deeper.

The Ming army's eastern front was already weak and it bore almost all of the enemy's offensive in a short period of time. It was completely unable to resist and the soldiers began to retreat and disperse.

This trend of defeat soon spread to other directions, and the Ming army on the entire front began to show signs of collapse.

But in just a quarter of an hour, the defeat was overwhelming!
"General! This, this is..."

The lieutenants were panicked.

Xue Rengui's face became paler and paler, and his lips trembled slightly.

He was also stunned.

The individual technical and tactical levels of the soldiers of the Tang army on the opposite side may be just so-so, and they are just a standard second- or third-tier team.

But in terms of command and strategy, he is ridiculously strong!
Who was the person commanding the Tang army opposite him?
He was able to make a second-rate team perform like a first-rate team!

Cheng Zhijie? Guo Xiaoke? Li Shiji?
Xue Rengui's mind was in a mess, with countless thoughts popping up in his mind at once.

"No, now is not the time to let your mind wander!"

He gritted his teeth, shook his head vigorously, and pulled himself together.

He can't lose, he absolutely can't lose!
If he fails here.

That means the route from Zhengzhou to Qizhou has been cut off!

It also means that the main military forces of the Ming Dynasty, totaling more than 200,000 soldiers, will be trapped in a small encirclement and may be annihilated at any time!
This was tantamount to sentencing the Ming Dynasty to death. The Ming Empire's national destiny came to an end, and the country was destroyed.

Destroyed in his hands!

"Hold on even if you die!"

Xue Rengui almost broke his teeth, turned around and left the city wall.

"General! What do you want to do?" The deputy general followed closely behind.

"Go to the Eastern Front and I will personally command it!"

Xue Rengui roared with his eyes blazing.

"It's dangerous there, General! If you go there and never come back..."

"Then leave and never come back!"

…………

Since the start of the all-out war between the two most powerful superpowers on earth, Ming and Tang, the most brutal and bloody battle has begun.

It was a hand-to-hand combat between the second-line troops of the two countries.

Judging from the battlefield situation, it is not difficult to find that the Tang army undoubtedly has an absolute advantage.

They had always held the initiative on the battlefield, had adequate supplies, and had been fully repaired.

The Ming army, on the other hand, was exhausted due to logistical disruptions and lack of rest.

From a strategic perspective, the situation of the Ming army was even less optimistic.

A huge gap had been cut in their eastern wing, and the Tang army on the opposite side swarmed into the gap like a swarm of hornets, tearing apart the entire front line of the Ming army.

More than once, the Ming army showed signs of total collapse.

"We can't retreat. We need to hold on! The people of Hebei are watching us!"

Amidst the chaos, the young general Xue Rengui led the troops and fought bravely.

His call pulled the army back from the brink of total collapse, rekindled the soldiers' fighting spirit, and allowed them to continue resisting on the spot.

However, the Tang army seemed to be endless, constantly appearing in front of and around them. Everyone seemed to be fighting several enemies at the same time, and everyone seemed to be fighting against the larger force with the smaller force.

However, in reality, the number of troops on both sides was similar.

The commander of the opposing Tang army was a good commander who always cleverly used the simple geometry of terrain, battle situation and formation changes to achieve the effect of defeating the enemy with more troops locally.

Perhaps the only thing Xue Rengui can use to compete with his opponent is his passion.

The sun was heading west and it was getting darker.

The camp of the Tang army.

Troops from the front line were constantly rotated down, and the rested troops and reserve troops took turns to join the meat grinder-like battle.

It is now early autumn, and after a whole day of fighting, the Tang army is very tired.

Their actual situation was not as relaxed and carefree as portrayed through the Ming army's "filter".

Many troops were crippled, dispersed, or even destroyed, and the casualties were not to be underestimated. The atmosphere in the commander's main tent was solemn.

The guards standing guard outside the tent were all well-equipped, tall and strong, forming a sharp contrast with the dusty soldiers not far away.

Because they were not originally part of the same system, and the guards of the main military camp came from the Beiya Imperial Guards.

Almost all of the emperor's personal guards, the 100 elite cavalry, were killed in the Shuobei Campaign, and a large portion of the Xuanwu Gate Left and Right Guards were taken away by Li Ming.

After the two saints returned to the capital, they were faced with the situation of the imperial guards being in disarray.

As soon as Li Chengqian ascended the throne, he set about building a new and trustworthy imperial guards.

The Beiya Forbidden Army was a newly formed imperial guard team, whose members were mainly from good families in Guanzhong, and whose grassroots officers were largely the Tiele and Turkic warriors who had escorted the two emperors Li Shimin and Li Chengqian throughout the entire journey.

The Northern Yamen Imperial Guards guarded the main camp, which meant that the commander in the camp had an extraordinary status.

"Oh? Haven't been able to capture the city and completely cut off their escape route?"

In the main tent, Li Shimin was half lying on the couch, his lazy voice a little unclear.

His deputy Zhang Liang - like Zhang Sun Wuji, he had also changed jobs many times, but he was thick-skinned enough to cling back to His Majesty's thigh again - wiped the sweat from his forehead:
"Your Majesty... That Tang army was very stubborn. They were forced into retreat many times, but they still resisted stubbornly..."

Zhang Liang did not dare to neglect the Emperor who had suffered a stroke. He carefully chose his words, his heart pounding with nervousness.

Although His Majesty was disabled, the murderousness and majesty that naturally exuded on the battlefield still reminded Zhang Liang of his past experience of living with the emperor like living with a tiger.

There is no problem at all in scaring Zhang Liang so much that his face turns red and he starts sweating.

"Stubborn?... My dear Zhang, are you really commanding the war well?" Li Shimin put on a smile without any smile.

"With my half-crippled body, I exhausted the enemy's supplies and fighting spirit, discovered the loopholes in their defenses, and opened up the situation.

“And you, with your intact body, have achieved nothing.

"Is half of your body redundant? Do you need me to cut off the redundancy for you?"

Zhang Liang's legs were almost unable to stand.

"No, no... Your Majesty, I will lead by example. I will lead the troops. I will not return until I win the final victory, whether I win the first battle or die on the battlefield!"

He almost floated down.

Looking at Zhang Liang's distraught back, Li Shimin snorted with pleasure.

"Humph, that old rascal should be given a good beating."

As his original spy leader, Zhang Liang had been involved in "scandals" with Li Chengqian, Li Zhi, and Li Tai.

Now that this guy was back in his hands, Li Shimin did not fire this old spy who did not abide by the "rules of a minister" (in the physical sense) out of consideration for their old brotherhood.

But he was not allowed to continue to get involved in the spy system.

Instead, he was asked to lead the troops to the front line.

Although overshadowed by his intelligence work ability, Zhang Liang's frontal combat capability is actually quite remarkable.

As a spy, his combat style is unique. He can be merciful and let his soldiers charge and fight hard, but he will also occasionally use his crooked brains to find another way.

What is even more commendable is that, because of the "occupational disease" of a spy, Zhang Liang pays great attention to the mastery of battlefield intelligence.

The Ming army on the other side, with low morale, no supplies, and a serious passive situation on the battlefield, persisted and did not collapse, and even managed to repel Zhang Liang's attack...

"That general's name is Xue Rengui, right?
"I sent him to Yingzhou before, but I didn't expect him to be able to exert much combat power. I didn't expect that he could survive the bloody battles and shine so brilliantly..."

A trace of regret flashed across Li Shimin's face.

"Why didn't you spot that promising talent back then and gave him to that brat Li Ming? That brat is lucky..."

He had been preparing for a long time in order to break through Xue Rengui's defense in one wave today.

This was Li Shimin's specialty, a textbook demonstration of how to devour a large army group.

From the outside to the inside, first attack the logistics, then look for weak points in the defense line. Once they gain a slight advantage, they will send the entire army forward to quickly expand the original slight advantage.

The logistics of a large army group are fragile, and it is difficult to take care of the defense line, so it is basically certain to fall victim to this move.

Therefore, Xue Rengui's command ability was indeed quite something, as he was able to withstand Li Shimin's move without collapsing.

"His Majesty."

At this time, a message came.

"A large group of people were spotted in the west, heading this way."

Li Shimin slowly gathered his thoughts.

"Friend or foe? Li Shiji's tribe?"

The herald shook his head:

"It seems not. The flag does not belong to our Tang Dynasty."

This news made Li Shimin stunned for a long time, and then he twisted his left lip into a bitter smile.

The enemy forces coming from the west now, aren’t they the main force of the Ming army led by Li Jing?
It had to be Li Weigong. His nose was as sharp as a mouse. As soon as he smelled the scent of the snake, he immediately retracted his head.

"Li Jing's army is much more powerful than ours. We should not try to stop a chariot with a mantis arm. Let Zhang Liang be more cautious and give priority to preserving his own strength."

…………

"Xue Rengui is in a tough fight?"

Li Jing learned from the scouts he sent out that there was a war going on ahead.

Hou Junji and others were shocked.

"what?"

The guess of His Majesty Li Ming and Li Jing's subordinates was correct. The Tang army really wanted to surround and kill them all!
Li Jing asked: "What is the current situation of the battle? Can Xue Rengui hold on?"

"It's very dangerous. The Tang army has already breached our eastern wing and is about to encircle our troops." The scout said:

"But our army is still holding on. General Xue still hasn't given up resistance and has built a solid defense line on the bank of the Yellow River."

There was an expression of surprise and anxiety on everyone's face.

They've already hit the Yellow River, and the opening is getting smaller and smaller!

If Xue Rengui's last line of defense is breached, the door will be completely closed and the main force of the Ming Dynasty will be surrounded!
"Go forward immediately and support Xue Rengui. Don't let their efforts go to waste." Li Jing commanded calmly.

In fact, there was no need for him to urge them, as the soldiers were already working hard to make a strategic shift to the east.

Because they have company along the way.

That is Li Shiji.

After discovering that Li Jing's gang had suddenly opened the east gate of Zhengzhou and fled, Li Shiji's army immediately stuck to them like a dog-skin plaster.

It was obviously meant to delay their actions.

A life-and-death race has begun, which will determine whether you will be made into a dumpling.

Under Li Jing's order to "withdraw to Qizhou as quickly as possible", this absolute main force of the Ming army did not dare to fight, abandoned their heavy baggage and equipment, and went into battle lightly.

Li Shiji's army followed behind and tried to intercept them.

The two armies chased each other and broke into the battlefield on the other side.

(End of this chapter)